At The Brink
by Jdgon
Summary: After Dr. Helen Benson decides to help the strange visitor to escape the clutches of the Government, she contemplates all she is willing to risk for a chance to change his mind, and to save mankind from destruction.  Please note the rating change
1. The edge of persuation

**Author's note: **Disclaimer: I don't own anything.**

**Not sure whether this will be longer. We'll see how it goes.  
**

_"What do I do?" Helen whispered desperately, her eyes closing._

_"Change his mind. Not with reason, but with yourself."_

At the time Helen didn't know what she would do with this explanation from her dear old friend. Her scientific mind could not comprehend beyond the facts of the situation, that the world was under threat and about to be destroyed for all the sins of her race. The one chance for all of human kind was seated across from her in one of the faded and bruised chairs in the cheap motel room.

_"You're not in control. You don't know what he's capable of!"_ But, they hadn't listened as she had shouted it to the White House representative down that darkened corridor they had forced her through when the Special Forces had extracted from the woods. _Oh God Jacob! _Her head fell forward slightly toward the table, tears burning behind her eyes. She didn't know where Jacob was.

This alien, this unfeeling destroyer of worlds had emerged to meet her after she had been released from the military facility, but Jacob wasn't with him. Jacob was safe was all he would say. Helen had felt anger then, she was not about to see the world come to an end without saying goodbye to her son. The situation was delicate, she had to plot her next move, and there was no time for tears or anger. Lifting her eyes to glance across at the alien once more, she noticed that he hadn't stopped staring at her, a look of mild curiosity in his gaze. Good, she could use that. Entirely too much was at stake to rely on words. She had to make a move.

_"Do you really think you can persuade him?"_

_Helen swallowed thickly, but her gaze was steely and determined. "I think you should let me try…"_


	2. Curiosity

Author's Note: I don't own anything.

Decided to continue... here goes.

Clearly, the human woman - a doctor and a scientist of this age, was in the grips of some human emotional turmoil, he would never be able to understand. He, the alien - also a scientist among his race, yearned despite the current circumstances of his presence and his actions in this world - to pause, explore and investigate each and every facet of this human emotional reaction. It currently manifested itself in the complex shifting of fleshy tissue and the suffusing blood, muscle and beneath the skin cells across Dr. Helen Benson's lowered face.

From what he had observed in the little time he had spent with human beings, these tugs and twitches of muscle were incredibly significant to the inner motivations of the human mind; telltale signs of coming actions and following consequences. Remaining silent, he let the ambient sound of the surrounding room flow over and around him, allowing her a moment to compose herself and for him to indulge his curiosity. As he watched her, layers of sound droned simultaneously, thousands of systems and organic cycles overlapping and coming together to create the sound of the world. One could be lulled by it, lost in the details, if not careful.

Like the world, and very much like Dr. Helen Benson, the human spirit never seemed to rest or fall silent completely. Humans were ever moving, ever thinking, ever active, and unfortunately ever-seeking their end at an unacceptably accelerated pace. It was tragic how easily avoidable all this was. Being capable of such devastation and also unable to change was the failing of the entire species. Through inaction, human beings had missed countless opportunities to adjust the balance of their existence and increase their chances of survival.

Dr. Benson was speaking. Her voice pierced through the surrounding pulse of sound with a completely different pitch; one, which Klaatu could easily differentiate from all other sounds he had heard since awakening. She seemed calmer than she had been when he found her, and was speaking of the music he had heard at the home of Professor Barnhardt. She had called it, Bach and proceeded to explain the concept behind the descriptor. Bach, was a human of musical accomplishment, and in this music, Klaatu had heard evidence of a greater consciousness other than rampant destruction. The language of music, its notation, creation of instruments and execution of the sound was a breathtaking revelation, and he found himself silently captivated by her explanation.

The human spirit was diverse and capable of such wonderful creation. The music, like her voice, pierced the veil of noise that was the world. Bach s music, like her voice and like the cast of burning eyes, which glinted molten brown beneath the weak lamp light - made him pause and yearn to explore and investigate each curious facet of this short, remaining experience on earth that was beautiful and worthy of being remembered after his mission was complete.

"So we're not so different after all." Professor Barnhardt wore a strange little smile as he watched Klaatu s eyes drift closed over the haunting strains of the classical music.

Klaatu took a moment to draw away from the intoxicating allure of the sound, opening his eyes to catch the openly curious stare of Dr. Benson s eyes. This time they were grey.

"I wish that were true." 


	3. Engaging

It was difficult for Helen not to be affected by the disturbingly human visage of the alien in front of her. His body carried the weight and structure of a man in his mid thirties, tall, straight and of a musculature and build that was average. Other physical attributes were normal, but there was something in his air and manner of speaking that was noticeably alien. Despite herself, she was fascinated. His facial expression carried a careful neutrality that she felt was not a result of careful deliberation but ignorance. He simply did not have the mental or emotional references to display any other facial expression.

In spite of the strangeness of his physical appearance, Helen felt herself inexorably drawn to his openness to conversation. The fact that it flowed so effortlessly between them - a complex, rapid-fire counterpoint of arguments and theories was... startlingly refreshing. Her brilliant mind felt awakened, engaged and intellectually stimulated to the point where she almost got lost in the exchange. Despite the circumstances, a part of Helen felt a sense relief to be able to communicate freely at a level where she did not have to pause or apologise for sudden shifts in her train of thought or directions in the train of the discussion.

He was incredibly knowledgeable and their conversation could not help but veer into the scientific. She would bet a thousand bucks that he was some sort of intellectual on whatever planet he was from. The concepts she could not grasp, he explained and was able to make connections and correlations between theories that left her near open-mouthed at their intellectual merit.

In addition to the staggeringly super-human mental and physical abilities he possessed, she had seen his mind in action with Barnhardt, and from their exchange it was clear that he was an intelligent life form, but the things he uttered now, were astronomically advanced and bordered on an intellect light-years ahead of the human consciousness.

As she watched him, conflicting emotions assaulted her. She could not deny that his ability to reason was beyond anything she had ever hoped to encounter in her short life. Being awakened to such a superior level of discourse was having a definite and specific physiological effect that she could not control. Helen tried to reposition the urgency of the situation at the front of her mind. The fate of the world rested on these few moments she had alone with him, every instant of this interaction was crucial. She had to try to reach him in some way; to show him the merits of survival for the human race.

She found herself watching him intently. His gaze had drifted off to one side as if he was so absorbed inwardly in processing what he was saying, that he was seeing the concepts he spoke of before his eyes in some alternate dimension of thought. His intensity was alarmingly attractive and a quiver of awareness tingled uninvited trough her. Instantly, his eyes snapped back to hers, a new arrested light of interest colouring his dark gaze.

His voice interrupted Helen s thoughts with a question, and for a moment, her mind went completely blank as a rush of warmth suffused her cheeks. Clearly, his curiosity was winning over his earlier scientific interest, successfully enough to allow him to turn the conversation in such a startlingly intimate direction. Clearing her throat, Helen tried to suppress her reaction, her legs unconsciously sliding closed. Exhaling on an embarrassed laugh she hesitated as her mind struggled to attempt to formulate an answer.


	4. Stimuli

**Author's note: I don't own anything, but I really like the film. I've also never written anything like this before. Forgive me if this comes off reading like a medical instruction manual.**

* * *

Several moments later, when his question had gone unanswered, Klaatu drew his gaze from Dr. Benson s eyes downward over her seated form. It struck him suddenly that he had in some way provoked a considerable biological reaction in her. Intrigued, his attention became absorbed in the remarkable emotional and physical response currently running through the human female before him. Dr. Helen Benson s cheeks were blushed red, clearly some internal response to the words he had spoken. More than that, there was some chemical shift in the composition of her scent, and inconspicuously, Klaatu found himself breathing in deeper to draw the alluring flavour in through his nostrils and along the sensory neutrons of her olfactory glands. An unexpected shiver raced along his human nervous system as the scent fired a surge of heat through the human body encasing him.

Surprised at his own reaction, he found his human senses savouring the increased level of pheromones with their distinctively feminine essence. The resulting sensations were remarkable. And, for a moment he was completely distracted by the experience. He found his gaze unintentionally following the line of her body downward along the closed seam of her jean-clad legs. What had he asked her? Ah. Ovulation. She was ovulating, and he had asked her whether she could feel the exact moment of her readiness to procreate.

Human biological systems were something he specialized in and was one of the reasons he had been selected for this particular mission. Though he was considered knowledgeable, he was virtually untutored when it came to how these human systems interacted with the internal construct of the human mind - emotion, motivation and psyche. How had the humans, despite their clear intelligence, not been evolve past their inherent destructiveness? It was the eternal question for his planet.

It was certainly not a dilemma he found relating to Dr. Helen Benson. Her sharp intellect was impressive and he felt that unlike Professor Barnhardt, she had the ability to open her mind up to progressing concepts forward into new schools of thought, rather than hammering them one against the other. It was...refreshing, and showed him a glimmer of what his people had hoped for when first learning of the dilemma of the Earth s survival.

Klaatu had not realized the intensely private nature of the topic. He spoke of ovulation like any other internal human system, and yet, his question had triggered something, and continued to stimulate her readiness for inter-gender relations. He was breathing quietly, but deeply as he waited, drawing as much of her delicious scent into his body as possible. Internally, he acknowledged his own physiological response and made a mental note of the varying degrees of reaction. Initiated by her scent, the effects provoked awareness of Dr. Benson s other physical features such as the aesthetically pleasing shape of her face, the inviting texture of her creamy skin and the particular shape of her lips as she spoke.

Academically, Klaatu understood that this was human male desire, a preface to arousal and a signal of a male s readiness for intercourse. It was just another biological interaction that was common among humans and enabled the continuance of the species. Academically, he had been prepared for it. To experience it, however, gave a completely different perspective. One thing was for certain, he, like most human men was responding incredibly to the visual stimuli of the woman seated across from him. What was more incredible was that she, in turn, was responding just as intensely to his physical assessment of her.


End file.
